New Brunswick’s new virtual health-care service launches Tuesday

New Brunswick is launching a new virtual health-care provider on Tuesday.

New Brunswickers can access the province’s new virtual health-care service beginning Tuesday.

The New Brunswick government says Virtual Care NB offers virtual consultations seven days a week, including bilingual services and connections to other areas within the health-care system.

It includes video, telephone and chat consultation options.

“This service supports individuals without a primary care provider, as well as those whose provider is unavailable and who require care for an issue that cannot wait,” explained Health Minister John Dornan in a news release Monday.

“It is another important step in our work to build a more integrated and patient-focused health-care system.”

The province says Virtual Care NB can assess and treat many common, non-urgent illnesses, injuries, infections and general health concerns. It can also support patients looking for renewals, follow-ups and lab referrals.

The service will be available daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Patients can schedule same-day or next-day appointments.

New Brunswickers can access the service through the following avenues:

• Virtual Care NB webpage
• MyHealthNB website and mobile app
• Tele-Care 811

“The online symptom checker and Tele-Care 811 will serve as the entry points for virtual care,” said the province.

“They will assess people’s health-care needs and guide them to the most appropriate care, which could include booking an appointment with Virtual Care NB or being connected with other types of services.”

The service will be available to all New Brunswickers with a valid Medicare card.

New service replaces eVisitNB

Virtual Care NB replaces the made-in-New Brunswick eVisitNB service, which launched in January 2020 to keep people who were looking for non-emergency health referrals or prescriptions out of emergency departments.

The province said in February it would be transitioning to a new provider after March 31, though it later said it had extended eVisitNB’s contract by 90 days.

Instead, the New Brunswick government said it signed a two-year, $26-million contract with Luxemburg-based Foundever following a competitive bidding process – a move that was met with some opposition.

In December, Foundever received a credit rating downgrade from the U.S. credit rating agency S&P Global, which lowered the company two notches from ‘B-‘ to ‘CCC.’

Some virtual-care nurses also expressed concerns that the new platform wouldn’t allow them to provide the same level of care and would reduce the number of patients who receive service daily.

In May, Dornan said the health department was confident in Foundever’s ability to “provide high-quality virtual care services” and described the company as a “trusted health system partner” that has operated in New Brunswick for 28 years.

Foundever currently provides the province’s 811 Tele-care service for non-emergency health consultations by phone.

With files from CTV News Atlantic’s Avery MacRae, Laura Brown, Nick Moore, Sean Mott and The Canadian Press

For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.